Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs

Arthur Theil; Craig Anderton; Chris Creed; Nasrine Olson; Raymond John Holt; Sayan Sarcar

doi:10.1145/3597638.3615651

Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs

Arthur Theil, Craig Anderton, Chris Creed, Nasrine Olson, Raymond John Holt, Sayan Sarcar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

4 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Conventionally, the accessibility research community centers most of its efforts on designing assistive technologies and systems related to single categories of impairments. Although this approach has contributed to valuable progress and advancements in the field, there is a growing consensus among accessibility researchers that focusing on designing technologies for single impairments oversimplifies disability since this approach may fail to adequately address the real-world experiences of a significant population of users with complex needs. Despite challenges related to conducting research with users living with multiple, profound, or complex disabilities, it is essential in terms of future work that the accessibility research community adopts a more inclusive approach where users with lived experience of multiple disabilities are directly informing and shaping the design of assistive systems and accessible technologies. Therefore, we propose the 2nd International Workshop on Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. The workshop will act as a forum for participants to share their perspectives related to challenges and opportunities in designing accessible systems that consider the multidimensional needs of users living with multiple disabilities. This workshop intends to challenge current paradigms in the accessibility field, share latest work and foster future collaborations.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ASSETS '23: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400702204
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3597638.3615651
Publication status	Published (VoR) - 22 Oct 2023
Event	25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2023 - New York, United States Duration: 23 Oct 2023 → 25 Oct 2023

Conference

Conference	25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2023
Country/Territory	United States
City	New York
Period	23/10/23 → 25/10/23

Funding

Chris Creed is a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Birmingham City University (UK) where he leads the HCI Research Group. His core research interest is around the design and development of assistive technology for disabled people (across a range of impairments). He is leading multiple research projects focused around accessibility such as investigating new interface techniques for facilitating creative work via gaze/speech interaction (supported through an Adobe Fund for Design grant), exploring the development of inclusive AR/VR experiences (previously funded by a Meta/Facebook research award), making coding more accessible for people with physical impairments (which has received support from a Google Inclusion Research Award and a Microsoft “AI for Accessibility” grant), and investigating the potential of wearable technology to support young people with special needs (e.g. ADHD) within residential care (funded through Innovate UK). Prof. Creed’s research is multidisciplinary in nature and has been conducted in close partnership with national charities, disability and accessibility organisations, special needs colleges, large arts/cultural partners, and disabled people. Raymond Holt is a Lecturer in Product Design in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds (UK), where he is a member of the Institute of Design, Robotics and Optimisation, the Immersive Cognition Lab and the Centre for Disability Studies. His core research interests are the study of haptic perception and prehension and the cocreation of assistive and rehabilitation technologies with users. He has led co-creation activities on two rehabilitation robotics projects funded by the National Institute for Health Research, and led the Leverhulme Trust-funded project Facilitating Meaningful Play for Disabled Children through Participatory Design. He has recently been part of the European Commission funded project SUITCEYES (http://suitceyes.eu), where he led activities on the sensing and navigation elements, and is currently extending this work as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded Imagining Technologies for Disability Futures project (http://itdfproject.org).

Funders	Funder number
Google Inclusion Research Award
Microsoft
National Institute for Health and Care Research
Innovate UK

Keywords

Assistive Technologies
Disability Studies
Accessibility
Multiple Impairments
Complex Needs

Access to Document

10.1145/3597638.3615651

Cite this

@inproceedings{5f0abd4d5a7c4ddb850f9267497d643c,

title = "Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs",

abstract = "Conventionally, the accessibility research community centers most of its efforts on designing assistive technologies and systems related to single categories of impairments. Although this approach has contributed to valuable progress and advancements in the field, there is a growing consensus among accessibility researchers that focusing on designing technologies for single impairments oversimplifies disability since this approach may fail to adequately address the real-world experiences of a significant population of users with complex needs. Despite challenges related to conducting research with users living with multiple, profound, or complex disabilities, it is essential in terms of future work that the accessibility research community adopts a more inclusive approach where users with lived experience of multiple disabilities are directly informing and shaping the design of assistive systems and accessible technologies. Therefore, we propose the 2nd International Workshop on Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. The workshop will act as a forum for participants to share their perspectives related to challenges and opportunities in designing accessible systems that consider the multidimensional needs of users living with multiple disabilities. This workshop intends to challenge current paradigms in the accessibility field, share latest work and foster future collaborations.",

keywords = "Assistive Technologies, Disability Studies, Accessibility, Multiple Impairments, Complex Needs",

author = "Arthur Theil and Craig Anderton and Chris Creed and Nasrine Olson and Holt, {Raymond John} and Sayan Sarcar",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Owner/Author.; 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2023 ; Conference date: 23-10-2023 Through 25-10-2023",

year = "2023",

month = oct,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1145/3597638.3615651",

language = "English",

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Theil, A, Anderton, C, Creed, C, Olson, N, Holt, RJ & Sarcar, S 2023, Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. in ASSETS '23: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility., 109, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2023, New York, United States, 23/10/23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3597638.3615651

Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. / Theil, Arthur; Anderton, Craig; Creed, Chris et al.
ASSETS '23: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2023. 109.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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T1 - Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs

AU - Theil, Arthur

AU - Anderton, Craig

AU - Creed, Chris

AU - Olson, Nasrine

AU - Holt, Raymond John

AU - Sarcar, Sayan

PY - 2023/10/22

Y1 - 2023/10/22

N2 - Conventionally, the accessibility research community centers most of its efforts on designing assistive technologies and systems related to single categories of impairments. Although this approach has contributed to valuable progress and advancements in the field, there is a growing consensus among accessibility researchers that focusing on designing technologies for single impairments oversimplifies disability since this approach may fail to adequately address the real-world experiences of a significant population of users with complex needs. Despite challenges related to conducting research with users living with multiple, profound, or complex disabilities, it is essential in terms of future work that the accessibility research community adopts a more inclusive approach where users with lived experience of multiple disabilities are directly informing and shaping the design of assistive systems and accessible technologies. Therefore, we propose the 2nd International Workshop on Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. The workshop will act as a forum for participants to share their perspectives related to challenges and opportunities in designing accessible systems that consider the multidimensional needs of users living with multiple disabilities. This workshop intends to challenge current paradigms in the accessibility field, share latest work and foster future collaborations.

AB - Conventionally, the accessibility research community centers most of its efforts on designing assistive technologies and systems related to single categories of impairments. Although this approach has contributed to valuable progress and advancements in the field, there is a growing consensus among accessibility researchers that focusing on designing technologies for single impairments oversimplifies disability since this approach may fail to adequately address the real-world experiences of a significant population of users with complex needs. Despite challenges related to conducting research with users living with multiple, profound, or complex disabilities, it is essential in terms of future work that the accessibility research community adopts a more inclusive approach where users with lived experience of multiple disabilities are directly informing and shaping the design of assistive systems and accessible technologies. Therefore, we propose the 2nd International Workshop on Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs. The workshop will act as a forum for participants to share their perspectives related to challenges and opportunities in designing accessible systems that consider the multidimensional needs of users living with multiple disabilities. This workshop intends to challenge current paradigms in the accessibility field, share latest work and foster future collaborations.

KW - Assistive Technologies

KW - Disability Studies

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KW - Complex Needs

UR - https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/14815/

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M3 - Conference contribution

BT - ASSETS '23: The 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc

T2 - 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2023

Y2 - 23 October 2023 through 25 October 2023

ER -

Accessibility Research and Users with Multiple Disabilities or Complex Needs

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Keywords

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